Land Registry: legal support from the declaration of rights to the correction of the entry

Lawsuits for inaccurate first entries

Under the operating Land Registry, first entries registered in error often come to light with the indication “UNKNOWN OWNER”, either because the real right holder neglected to declare their right during the cadastral survey, or because their right was rejected. These inaccurate first entries are corrected in court, either by the ordinary procedure (article 6 par. 2 of law 2664/1998) or by the non-contentious procedure (article 6 par. 3 of law 2664/1998). Also, under the non-contentious procedure (article 6 par. 8 of law 2664/1998), the descriptive or geometric details of first entries registered in error are corrected in court, upon application by the holder of the registrable right and under the specific conditions set by law.

Applications for correction of a manifest error

The inaccurate first entries on cadastral sheets can also be corrected out of court, with an application for correction of a manifest error (article 18 of law 2664/1998) filed with the competent Land Registry Office or Branch, by which anyone with a legitimate interest may request the due correction, which is sometimes simple and sometimes complex. The scope of this application has widened in recent years. Even so, it should not be regarded as a simple application that will magically solve the errors of the first entries, particularly where they are complex and complicated, but must be drafted with accuracy, clarity and completeness, proving the applicant’s claims irrefutably, so that it is accepted and the requested correction of the cadastral entries finally takes place.

Applications for correction of geometric details

The geometric details of cadastral entries, both of first entries and of later ones, which concern the correction of the cadastral diagrams of properties, can also be corrected out of court. The application for correction of geometric details (article 19 par. 2 of law 2664/1998) may indicatively concern the depiction in the cadastral diagrams of the exclusive uses of vertical properties, or the area and shape of a land parcel that resulted from a merger, division or change of its boundaries, etc. The requested correction must follow clearly from a transcribed act (a notarial document, a court decision, an act of the Administration), and the application must be accompanied by a topographic diagram of geometric changes (drawn up by an engineer) and a cadastral diagram, together with the other procedural requirements set by law 2664/1998, as most recently amended.

Applications under article 6 par. 4 of law 2664/1998

This is another possibility, provided by law to the right holder or anyone with a legitimate interest, for the out-of-court correction of inaccurate first entries. Specifically, the application under article 6 par. 4 of law 2664/1998 is made when the right registered in the initial entries (so it is excluded where “UNKNOWN OWNER” appears) had already been transferred, altered, encumbered or abolished by virtue of a legal act, an administrative act, a court decision or another procedural act that was registered in the relevant books of the Mortgage Registry before the date of registration of the first entries, provided that no other registration, incompatible in content, has meanwhile intervened on the relevant cadastral sheet. Particular care is needed, however, so that the right originally registered is fully identified with the one whose registration is requested.